The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1887-01-01
Making Chocolate.
A Great Industry In which SEiIlions are
Invested.
From the Brooklyn Eagle.

From the Brooklyn Eagle.
Chocolate is kind of hard paste, the
principal part of which is the pulp Of the
cocoa or chocolate nuts. The cocoa, from
which it comes, is tree that has been
brought into great prominence only in
comparatively recent years, although for
many generations it has been exercising
benefcient Influences upon millions Of the
human race. The Spanish word is coco,
signifying nut. The cocoanut palm grows
in warm climates, and attains the height Of
from sixty to ninety feet. The stem is
similar to an apothecary's mortar, being Of
equal diameter at each end, but tapering
somewhat in the middle. The bark is
smooth, of pale brown, and the tree gen.
orally inclines on one side. The fruit is
shaped like a cucumber, green while grow
ing, then changing to blush red color
with pink veins, and contains from twenty
to thirty nuts. The calyx Of the cocoa
nut palm is composed of five sepals; the
petals are five heightened into a strap-like
form at the apex The stameus are fvV
each with double anthers, and horn-ike
appendage between each tilament; the
style is liliform with ave parted stigma,
the fruit five celled capsule without val
.vesc the seeds embedded in soft pulp, and
thick, oily, wrinkled cotyledons. The spe-
cies chiefly used in the manufacture of
cocoa and chocolate are cacao, and the fruits
are collected from both wild and cultivated
plants, the size and form of which vary
with the species. The cacao tree is care
fully cultivated in many Of the settlements
Of Spanish America, and particularly in
Mexico, where, we learn from Humboldt,
it was extensively reared so long ago as the
time of Montezuma, and, whence, indeed,
it was transplanted into other dependencies
Of the Spanish Monarchy. The names by
which the plant and the food prepared from
its seed are recognized in the present time
are derived from the Mexican language
The Mexican word chocolate is derived
Afrom the sound of the stones as they crash
together in the primitive method adopted
bN them for bruising the bean and incor-
paAating the sugar and vanilla, and from
thiA comes the English word chocolate.
TheA seeds of the cacao were made use Of
as mSney in Mexico in the time of the
Acted kings, and this use of them is still
partially continued. But the cacao tree is
not combined to Mexico. It is extensively
grown III Central America, Brazil, Peru,
Venezuela. Caracas Ecuador, Demerara,
Guayaauil and SsiwmS.it is also extern
sively cultivated in IT. grenada, and
is fonnd in some of the ot6el Liam
Islands, but that coming from u
being considered the best.
We now come to the preliminary trests
ment Of the cocoa of commerce, which is
as follows: The various kindsof cocoa and
chocolate are prepared from the seeds.
When ripe the pods are gathered and after
lying some hours opened and the seeds
picked out by hand and sweated, as it is
technically called First they are arranged
on sloping floor or in baskets, whereby
the pulp enveloping them is drained off.
They are next inclosed in boxes for two
or three days, according to the state of the
weather, and afterwards placed in the sun
to dry. This sweating process is similar to
mailing, and on the manner iRsgbich i is
earried out the xalnA, az theA 8. !.
pally depends. As soon h the seeds are
quite dry they are ready for Shipment in
barrels or bags Before proceeding to de-
scribe its actual manufacture into an article
of food I should like to show the manner
in which it sustains the human organism.
It is well known that milk contains all the
essentials for supplying the human organ
ism with proper nourishment, and an analy-
sis of cocoa shows that there is very small
proportion of water, while the analysis, as
a whole, is closely like that of pure milk.
Cocoa is, in fact, food beverage, and pos
sesscs beside the invaluable property of
promoting and sustaining the animal forces,
without Of course, any of those evil reac-
tiohary effects which always follow the use
of intoxicants and ordinary nerve excitants.
The best general idea of this can be
given by the following account of visit to
the works of an extensive Brooklyn man
ufactory, which of late has become largely
extended The greatest attention l found
paid in the factory to cleanliness, and in
passing through the rooms noticed that the
young women employed were dressed neatly,
most of them wearing brown Holland
apron which covered the whole dress. The
cocoa nut beans are carefully sorted and the
unsound ones rejected; they are then placed
in rotating cylinders and subjected to a
gentle heat over coke fires until the full
aroma is properly developed. When cool
they are passed to another room. in which
the machines are arranged fer breaking the
now crisp, roasted nut into irregular seq
ments, into which the kernel is naturally
divided The next process is to remove
the outer husks by means Of a powerful
blast The rich glossy kernel that remains
is known in the market under the name of
cocoa nibs.. The visitor is next conducted
into a room, where along line Of stones are
working, one over the other, much in the
same way as in ordinary -four mills. Be-
tween these the nibs are passed, and, as the
stones are heated, the nibs are reduced to
creamy fluid, which flows into pans. Up
to this point we have the cocoa in its native
condition, with the exception Of the acids,
ETC., thrown off in roasting, and the shell
removed by fan.
We now diverge into three distinct
branches of manufacture, and to the cocoa
easence, which is largely used, we shall give
precedence. There is no sophistication in
this article; it is the same cocoa we have
seen running from the stones in creamy
fluid, with the excess of cocoa butter re-
moved. The best cocoa contains about 80
per cent. of natural cocoa oil or butter, and
this has been found to be far too large a
proportion for ordinary digestion, and
gives unfortunately colorado excuse foE
its adulteration. Therefore great attention
is paid to the production of pure article,
free from this objection. The removal Of
Al I..tEr. ~. ~ H.